


Saving Grace

by Gangstertogangster



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23076643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gangstertogangster/pseuds/Gangstertogangster
Summary: I wanted to write some JokerXHarley because it's a ship I hold dear to my heart, even though i know it's not a good or healthy ship, and the character of Harley is growing apart.I sort of wanted to write something based on her conflicting feelings, and mine as well. I've been doubting my love of Harley, my ability to not ship her and Joker. I know it's not rational, but I've had an attachment to this ship since I was eight.Halo by Beyonce is used as a song ironically, because Harley thinks of Joker when she listens to it.
Relationships: Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel
Kudos: 5





	Saving Grace

**Author's Note:**

> Embarrassingly I just now noticed id forgotten to paste the final sentences I wrote on here. I thought I copied my whole fic from the google doc, but I had not. So many apologies. ive since added the final sentences.

Harley lay back in bed, letting the booming speakers of her stereo take her in. 

_“I’m surrounded by your embrace/ baby I can see your halo/ You know you’ve my saving grace”_

She sang along, loud and freely. He wasn’t home yet, and that was another reason she could have her music on this obnoxiously loud. They agreed to her conditions for her coming back, she and him. She could play whatever music she wanted while he was out, and when he came back, she would turn it way down.

Harley loved to belt out the _“HALO, HALO, HALO”_ of the song, despite the definite absence of a halo over her man’s head. 

_“I’m surrounded by your embrace, baby I can see your halo…”_

Last time he gave her a black eye, she gave him two and made him beg for his life. He was sobbing like a small child. Crocodile tears, which she knew. But after she let him get up, and they embraced once more, the sex was off the hook. He even let her choke him, long white neck held so tight it was getting a little red. 

_“Remember those walls I built, baby they’re tumbling down…”_ If that didn’t sum up their relationship. For him as much as her. The good periods he had were more frequent, closer together. 

She turned on “Yikes” by Nicki Minaj, after swiping through her playlist, frustrated. The bass boomed so hard. Ivy scolded her about it, last time she stayed over with Pam. Said “Harl, you’re gonna go deaf.” 

Of course, this always fell on deaf ears. She even made that pun to Pam, but she was met with the most vicious eye roll known to Gotham City. 

Harley suddenly sprung off the bed, declaring, “Cripes I’m thirsty, I keep SAYIN’ we need a manservant.” Hired help for her and Joker never lasted long. One wrong move and a bullet to the head was so much better than a regular termination. The only real issue was Joker and her got into such arguments about who should clean up the blood and brains splattered on the floor. 

Bud and Lou’s ears perked up as their mistress’ voice resounded throughout the lair. It was a shuttered warehouse, not much, but there was a kitchen, the bedroom, and the rest was divided into sections for His blueprints and Her gymnastics gear and so on. 

She opened the fridge, poured herself some more Coca Cola, shaking her hips so the music playing in her room but still fully audible. After she downed the glass with ice, she sighed and said, “Yolo”, getting the whole liter bottle and chugging. She took a dramatic drag of breath when she finished, gasping, "Started from the bottom, now we here..." 

“TURN THE MUSIC OFF.” The clown was home. He stood in the doorway like a more colorful Slenderman. Harley made a mental note to use that as an insult if they got in a fight again. 

“IT’S _NICKI MINAJ_ , PUDDIN’!” Harley screamed back. She burped louder than the bass. Bud and Lou scurried away at that. 

Joker sighed, exasperated but exaggerated. 

Harley muttered to herself as she twirled back into their bedroom to turn the iphone playlist off. 

“Where’dya even go, pumpkin?’ Harley asked, walking mock-seductive towards her man. 

“Grocery shopping,” he muttered. He sighed loud again. 

Harley snorted. “I ‘preciate it,” she said, overly-sweet. She pecked him on the chalky cheek. He winced, but it wasn’t the reflexive kind. More like a show. 

“Do my laundry, pookie?” Joker returned, irritable. That part wasn’t a show. 

“You’re a grown man, Mistah J, you can do your own by now.” 

“Not funny!” He snapped. 

“WASN’T S’POSED TA BE!” She cried. 

Attitude for attitude. He was getting too old to hold the rally much longer. He had to know by now he couldn’t win a shouting match with her. 

“Where’s the groceries?” Harley asked, her tone growing more gentle. 

Joker laughed a callous laugh at that query. 

“The bar for you, puddin’, is so low it could find its way to the Earth’s core.” 

She tugged at his tie for good measure before bouncing off to lift the groceries from the trunk. 

When she returned, arms full of grocery bags, she plopped them down on the table. “How did you even manage to get groceries?” Harley asked. 

Joker looked at her like she was stupid. “Laughing gas?”

Harley snorted in amusement but then her brow furrowed with concern.  
  
“What about Bats?” 

“He’s got bigger fish to fry. Literally. He and Ozzie have been going at it for the whole week.” 

“Sloppy, sloppy!” Harley laughed. Joker joined her. Doing basic chores made him sweat, and that was not just ludicrously funny but pretty damn sexy, as far as she was concerned. 

She leaned in and kissed him hard on his open mouth, slipping her tongue in. He jerked back, alarmed. 

He looked her up and down. He grabbed her ass, pulled her in, bit at her lips. She bit back. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him, and he carried her to their plush sofa. Harley wrestled out of his grip, dashed towards the bedroom. 

“NO COUCH! I GOT BACK TROUBLE WITH THAT LAST WEEK!” Harley exclaimed. Joker sighed and raced into the bedroom after her. 

When they lay back in bed, the room hot and sweaty and the purple bedsheets practically drenched, Harley immediately felt regret as she caught her breath. _Why was Joker’s doing such basic tasks so arousing? Why was not beating her so intimate? Why was the bare minimum such bliss?_

She got up, since Joker was out cold and snoring. He sounded so cute when he snored, which Harley was also disgusted at herself for thinking. 

Leaving him was a decision she came to time and time again. And always she came back. She saw her mother keep accepting her father after all his lies and hurt. She never wanted that for herself. 

_Why does this relationship make me want to work harder for it than want to leave it? His hard work is just everyone’s basic decency. Pam is more than that, she’s comfort and care and she knows I need more than a weekly grocery trip..._

Harley stretched. She yawned mightily as Joker growled in his sleep. 

She grabbed her iphone and her headphones. Climbed back into bed. Put Beyonce back on. 

_ “Remember those walls I built? Well, baby, they’re tumbling down…” _

She hummed along, half expecting Joker to snap at her to shut up. He didn’t. Instead he smiled a wide smile, eyes still shut. A little drool escaped his lips. 

Harley snuggled beside him as Beyonce sang  _ Halo, Halo, Halo. _


End file.
